I sat up straighter on the bed, leaning forward taking the card between my fingers. Absently I ran the tip of my nail over the letters of his name and found myself smiling. He actually listened to me. That's a first. If I'd known that all it would take was for me to scream at him to be heard, I would have done it long ago. I still feel like an idiot for exposing so much of my self to him--a man that I really know nothing about aside from the basic information I gained when I went to the police. The way he just silently walked off only added to my annoyance. Not only did I personally feel like a crybaby but I'm sure he looks at me with pity now.
What if that's what this is about? These gorgeous flowers that sit beside me to win me over? Even if it is, I can't deny the fact that it's a very sweet gesture. No one has ever intentionally done something to comfort me in this way. Once again I find myself smiling before unwanted flashes of Dalton and the nights I had to endure his abuse, his touch, and watching him hurt my mother to get what he wanted out of me entered my mind. He was a monster. A sick twisted perverted monster and I can't believe how foolish I was to compare Nicolas to him. That was my issue. The whole reason why I was so resistant. Using me to get back the wife he lost seemed no different than my mother's boyfriend using me for sexual purposes. At the end of the day I still feel like I'm being used by Nicolas but now part of me is seeing that the two can't be compared.
Placing the card back on the bedside table I got up and slowly made my way to the door. After looking carefully down the hall for some unknown reason, I made my way to the room they had set up for me with the intention of taking a hot shower and to get out of my ripped clothes. Being as dark as it was I can only imagine what the cliff actually looked like but looking down at my dirt stained shirt gives me an idea. It isn't until then that I realize the throbbing and burning that was in my back and legs is completely gone. Tugging off my shirt I rushed over to the full length mirror beside the closet. Angling myself so that I could get a good view of my back I pulled my hair over my shoulder and gasped. There isn't a single scratch or mark on my back in either of the places where there is blood on my shirt. Through the ripped parts of my jeans I also notice that although dirty, my skin looks...flawless.
I must be losing my mind.
How is there blood on my clothes but no indication of where it came from? I'm unable to come up with valid explanations so as best as I can, I push it to the back of my mind and head for the shower as planned. Water has always been a calming agent for me. Every since I can remember, being near water has enabled me to clear my head and think clearly.
Underneath the hot spray soaking into my hair, easing the tension in entire body, I consider the situation before. Nicolas took a step by leaving me those flowers. Does that mean I should take one too? But how? How do you meet someone halfway when it feels like it's not really you they're wanting?
Wanting. For some reason that word echos in my ears and suddenly causes sadness to swarm me. Simone comes to mind with that word. The hopeless romantic that lurks within me finds it terribly sweet that this man has been walking the earth for centuries going from place to place just to find the soul of the woman who owns his heart. I wish he could have her back. Honestly I do but the truth is, he won't get her back through pretending with me.
Once I was finally able to pull myself from the shower I noticed a covered tray sitting on the bed with a glass of orange juice, single red rose, and a card with familiar handwriting beside it. When I pulled off the silver lid an amazing mixture of smells hit me sparking a rumble within my stomach. Steaming hot strawberry crepes topped with fresh cut strawberries and bowl of mixed tropical fruit widens my eyes, flirting with each of my senses. A lady would get dressed first then take her time eating but screw that! This smells too good to wait and I'm hungry! I flopped down on the bed still with the towel wrapped tightly around me and picked up the fork without hesitation. Within five minutes I cleaned off the entire plate and didn't feel the least bit ashamed of how I'd just gobbled the whole thing down. I can't remember the last time I ate before this nor if it was even as delicious as those crepes.
My hunger now taken care of, I managed to finally get dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and my favorite long black sweater that falls off one shoulder. It still shocks me that they brought all of my stuff here and even added to it with new clothes, shoes, and furniture. As I look around the room again like I had the first time I'd seen it, I feel my guard slowly lowering more. He has gone out of his way to do a lot for me even though it may have been the wrong way to do it but for that I at least owe him a 'thank you'.
Like before, I entered the hall, looking down it first before I made a move. Going down the stairs I could hear male voices and then a female, instantly assigning each to Armand, Roland, and Claudia. There voices were muffled by the wall that separated the stairs from the living room and as soon as I stepped off the last step, they stopped. They all seemed to look at me with somber expressions before diverting their eyes. Roland got up without looking at me and disappeared through the front door.
Strange...
A few seconds later Armand did the same; stood grabbing Claudia by the hand and pulled her toward the stairs behind me without looking my way. I'm used to him now and understand the way he feels about me but Claudia? This doesn't feel right. I get the sense she's upset about something. My suspicion is confirmed when the usually chatty woman walks by me and also avoids my gaze.
"Claud?" Immediately she froze but didn't turn to face me. Had I caused this? When I ran, was that in some way rejecting the unspoken friendship that was forming between us? Before that incident she was talking and acting like we'd be best friends forever and now she's in a hurry to get away from me? When she finally turned my way still holding her husband's hand she didn't look at me for longer than a few seconds. Being that she's a vampire, a creature of the night that could probably rip me apart without even trying it strikes me as odd that she seems so timid and cautious right now. Then it hits me. A heavy sigh pushed through my nose, "How much did you hear?"
That made her look up again, this time maintaining eye contact with me. Her brows lowered over her eyes with the obvious sadness that overtook them. "Everything. And we're sorry we tried to keep you here. All of us."
With that she turned and continued up the stairs leaving me there alone feeling like shit. This is why I never told people what happened. I don't want sympathy, I don't need it! I got out and moved on with my life without allowing Dalton and the abuse to alter me. Before they made it out of view Armand turned back and looked at me with the same sadness. Something in the way he did that broke me. Turning toward a random door I pushed through it and found myself standing out on a deck looking over a very large field surrounded by trees with a decent size building not too far ahead. I wanted to scream just one good time like it would somehow erase the looks on Armand, Claudia, and Roland's faces but the beauty of this field wouldn't allow me to.
The day was late with the sun coloring the sky with orange, and pink hues casting a beautiful glow over the grass. There is a feeling of deja vu that I can't explain and without even thinking, I stepped off the deck and started walking toward the building. The wind blowing around me, the scent in the air all seems so familiar with every step I took. Not even halfway to the building something tells me that what I'm looking at is a horse stable. It looks like a mini house but with less windows and double doors. When I finally reached the building I placed my hand on the latch and again got a weird feeling. It caused me to still for a moment with my eyes closed, trying to figure out why. It almost feels like I've been here before but at the same time it seems so new to me. Shaking my head to hopefully rid myself of that feeling, I let myself in and stopped when I locked eyes with beautiful black stallion. I have never been this close to a horse before so I'm unsure of their behaviors. I don't know what it means when a horse is standing stock still and staring back at you. I don't know what signs indicate if their friendly or not. Despite having all that in mind I'm overcome with this need to touch the horse and find myself moving toward it. Still, the horse is as still as a statue. I know with dogs that if they're that still it's probably not a good idea to approach them but I can't seem to help myself.
I held out my hand as I walked up to the horse cautiously. The second my hand made contact with it's muzzle he seemed to come alive. His large head turned into my palm while his tail flopped behind him. I smiled, relaxing a little more and ran my hair through his coarse black mane.
"This is interesting." I jumped hearing Nicolas suddenly speak behind me. He smiled warmly closing the gap between us and placed his hand on the muzzle of the horse just like I had. "My apologize, Rayne. It just surprised me to see you here and Knight being so...gentle."
My brows lowered slightly as I returned my hand to the horse. "He isn't normally? gentle"
Nicolas chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Nada. Claud won't even come near him because he's so...hostile. It's amazing really--his personality. When I brought this land there was a wild stallion that was giving everyone problems by eating their crops and trampling over their fences. Then suddenly he started coming here and wouldn't seem to stay away. The first time I approached him to get him off my land he almost killed me," he paused and chuckled again, "but I kept trying until one day he let me pet him. After that day he would come back but come closer to the house as if he were waiting for me. I built this stable for him and tamed the impossible. At least I thought I had. Whenever I took him out he would show just how wild he was--made everyone fear him by threatening to stomp them. That is, everyone but Simone. The day I met her she walked right up to him and ran her hand up his muzzle and into his mane. No one, and I mean no one other than me had ever been able to get that close to Midnight. Knight here," he patted the horse in front of us, "is his descendant. In so many ways he is just like Midnight. He lets no one come near him."
That's odd and interesting at the same time. Nothing about this horse seems at all hostile to me. "Maybe it was the fact that I came to him with caution? I've never seen a horse this close before and didn't know what to expect."
Nicolas smiled keeping his eyes trained on the horse, "Then he must have sensed something special in you."
I couldn't help the blush that tinted my cheeks. Those words were so simple but with that accent it came across as flirtatious and sexy. I glanced over at him with those last two words, flirtatious and sexy, fresh on my mind and was yet again granted with a beautiful view. The setting sun is shining through the open door behind us, beaming down on his wavy brown locks and then his face as he turns and looks at me.
"I thought vampires couldn't be in the sun." Slipped through my lips before I could contain the thought. I've had doubts about the idea of of vampire since he told me he was one because nothing about him or those that I've come to know as vampires strike me as such. I mean, I went to the police station during the evening and the officer that attacked me was supposed to be a vampire. Roland came and saved me...during the evening...and is supposed to be a vampire. Now, here we are standing inside a horse stable with the sun blazing through the door and nothing is happening.
Nicolas looked at me as if I'd told the world's funniest joke but he didn't laugh. "My blood was merely mutated when I was bitten. Due to that, I never technically died. I and those like me can tolerate UV light to an extent for that reason. I am here now, but soon I will have to retreat."
"You're not going to burst into flames or something?"
That time he laughed, a deep from within his chest kind of laughter. "No, but my skin would start to visibly burn." My mouth formed a perfect "O" as I forced myself to stop with the questions. I feel kind of dumb for asking him that but I had to know. It has been sitting on my mind how they were able to move about the way they have. That brings forth another question. If they can go out into the sun, is that why they haven't been discovered yet?
"Our existence is only a secret to everyday humans. Your government has known about us for centuries."
Say what now? If I could see my own face I'm sure it would be a cross of 'what the fuck' and 'you've got to be shitting me'. Our government...which more than likely includes every president we've had has known about.....WAIT....how did he know what I was thinking? I froze, my hand dropped to my side with question in my brows. There are actual vampires in the world...that our government knows about...and they read minds?!
Deep laughter broke me from my mental freak out, "We cannot read the minds of everyone--just those that we are bonded to."
"Bonded?" The laughter died down quickly and I got this feeling that he was about to say something serious by the way he turned to face me. More soul talk?
"No Querida, a blood bond has nothing to do with your soul. I've given you my blood twice now which has sealed a bond between us. I gave you my blood as you slept last night to heal your wounds."
Ok, so that's why I have no scars. "And when was the other time?"
Dropping his head as if he were defeated, he turned his back to me and slowly walked toward a dark corner of the stable. "That time was before I knew of your past." He kept his back to me even though I knew he could sense me following the footsteps behind him. "All I wanted Rayne, was for you to feel what I felt--he connection that's between us. If I'd known you'd been through as much as you had..." there was a pause before he faced me, looking me right in the eyes, "You confessed your past to me and now it's my turn to tell you a bit of truth. All of the women that I told you about, I bonded with and not even a full twenty-four hours after I gave them my blood, they wanted me." I watched carefully as his eyes darkened slightly and narrowed on me. "But not you. I should have known when you had no response to our first bonding. I should have given up then but something within my slow beating heart would not allow me to." Slowly he began taking slow intimidating steps toward me that had me backing up until I hit the wall and he was towering over me. He brought his lips down toward my left ear and whispered, "I want you Rayne and I can't explain why. I need you and that's all I know. I have this burning desire to have you Rayne. For you to be mine."
I was lost in that moment, within his touch, and the depth of his voice. I swear that accent is a killer and he knows it. I felt his hands move up my thighs, waist, brush against, my breast, caress both sides of my neck, before coming to rest on my cheeks. He has me right where he probably wants me and while in my mind I'm still thinking 'no you want and need Simone', I can't form the words to bring this encounter to an end. Do I really want it to end? Right now, hell no but it's probably for the best if it does. This started out as a somewhat serious conversation and just off of the way his body is pressed against mine has me ready to rip his clothes off. When I felt his lips press against the skin just below my ear my mind went completely blank. He kept going, moving further down until he was over my rapidly beating pulse and started making his way back up kissing my chin and along my jaw. The heat from his breath moved over my lips and I shivered anticipating a kiss that never came.
"But if you really love something you have to let it go." Hearing that I opened my eyes slowly and found his looking directly into mine. A wave of dizziness washed over me and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to blink. "Keep looking at me Rayne and listen to everything I'm saying. In a few minutes you'll come to and think that you're at a quiet bed and breakfast and will be returning home to your high-rise luxury apartment that you paid off when you moved in. Your grandmother's stay in the nursing home has also been paid off and the money you're making is being used to save up for whatever your heart desires. Everything that has happened outside of the club since you met me will only be a dream in your mind. If ever you see me again, my face will be familiar to you but you will remember nothing about me. Your past...your past has made you strong and your future will make you much stronger."
Warm lips pressed tenderly against mine in a kiss that quickly turned passionate. I feel like I'm floating, being carried in a blanket of warmth that I never want to leave. All too soon, that feeling is gone. The body pressed against me was replaced with emptiness. When I opened my eyes I blinked several times and glanced at my surroundings. When I looked up at the person standing a few short feet in front of me I was staring into a pair of eyes that were so dark and gorgeous that it cause me to shiver. They were surrounded by the darkest lashes and were beneath thick dark brows. The man that owns them stands before me, tall, somber, and beautiful even but I have absolutely no clue who he is.